Apart from acquiring a host of Instagram followers and generating a wide awareness of their brand presence, the feature has effectuated an actual return on investment!

However, with digital innovations come digital pitfalls.

Many a times, a hashtag that you launch tends to get hijacked, and with business espionage on the rise, your story may even get negative traction.

To avoid this, many businesses find it easy to simply hide their Instagram stories from select users. So, if you think your business needs to do just that, read on to know how you can do that!

How To Hide Your Story By Using Your Android Or iOS Device?

Our phones and tablets are not something we part with often. So, naturally, they are extremely convenient when we want to hide our Instagram story from someone. Following are the steps to hide your Instagram story from specific users.

Open the Instagram app on your phone/ tablet.

Tap on the person icon in the bottom right corner.

Hit the three lines in the top right corner and you should find ‘Settings’ in the bottom right corner.

After clicking on ‘Settings’, go to ‘Story controls’ under the ‘Privacy and security’ section.

Select the option ‘Hide story from’.

Choose the people you want to hide the story from.

Click on the tick mark in the right top corner.

Note: If you want to make your story visible to the person/ profile again, then simply unselect them and click on the tick mark.

How To Hide Your Story By Using Your Android Or iOS Device After You Have Posted It?

Sometimes it so happens that you want to hide not all, but very specific stories from a user. Following are the instructions to hide your story, specifically under these circumstances.

Open the Instagram app on your phone/ tablet.

Tap on the home icon in the bottom left corner.

Click on ‘Your story’. You should find this option in the top left corner, under your Instagram profile picture.

Once your story shows up, click on ‘More’ or the three dots in the bottom right corner.

A menu shall show up; click on ‘Story settings’, which would be the fifth option. The Instagram app would then redirect you to ‘Story controls’.

Select the option ‘Hide story from’.

Choose the people you want to hide the story from.

Click on the tick mark (for Android) and the ‘Done’ option (for iOS) in the right top corner.

Note: If you want to make your story visible to the person/ profile again, then simply unselect them and click on the tick mark or the ‘Done’ option.

How To Access Instructions For Hiding Your Story Via Your Desktop Or Laptop?

A lot of you may be more comfortable operating a computer (desktop/ laptop) as opposed to a mobile device (phone/ tablet).

The bad news for you is that you cannot hide your story using the settings on your computer yet. But, surely, Instagram is looking into solving that problem as you read this blog!

If it’s any solace for you, we are mentioning how you can access the instructions to hide your story via your computer.

Open your search engine and go on instagram.com. If you have the website URL saved in your bookmarks, simply click on the ‘Instagram’ icon in your bookmark bar.

Log into your account. (Ignore this step if you are already logged in)

Click on the person icon. On your computer (desktop or laptop), you shall find this icon in the top right corner.

Tap on the ‘Settings’ icon. You should be able to see this around the middle of your screen, alongside your profile specifics.

Once you do that, a menu shall show up, which would have six options. Select the fourth option, that is, ‘Privacy and Security’.

Select the ‘Support’ option under ‘Privacy and Security Help’.

Under ‘Customizing Your Experience’, click on ‘Choosing Who Can See Your Story’, and you shall be redirected to a page with instructions that tell you how to hide your story.

Is Hiding My Story Same As Blocking Someone?

For some of you, the answer to this question may be obvious. But not everyone out there is a tech savvy. So, for those who don’t know this, no, hiding your story is not the same as blocking someone.

When you block someone, you automatically unfollow that person, and the person unfollows you.

This person, now, cannot see your posts or stories or any of your activities on Instagram. Even if your profile is set to ‘Public’, the user you have blocked cannot see your story.

However, if you have hidden your story from someone, the only thing they cannot see is your story. They can still see your posts and like & comment on them.

If in case, you have hidden only a specific story from someone, they can see everything on your profile, except for that story.

Conclusion

When you make your business a live entity on social media, you are bound to have ups and downs.

So, it’d be safe to say that your business is getting at least some amount of traction on this visual-focused platform.

However, if a user is a potential threat to the social media strategy you have subscribed to, it’s only wise to hide your story from them. Business, like the world, is an affair of the survival of the fittest!